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She smiles through our kiss. “You’ve got to become the Headless Horseman, cowboy.”
I kiss her again, and she returns it to the point where I’m on the verge of losing control. She knows how to use that name to her advantage, which only makes me love it—and her—all the more.
She breaks away again with another grin. “You can’t be late to an event you’re hosting.”
I pull back, breathing heavily and resting my brow against hers to settle my racing pulse. “You’re right. I guess.”
She pulls up her smart watch and looks at the time. “Archer! You’ve got thirty minutes before people start arriving.”
“Thirty whole minutes? Perfect.”
I go in for another kiss, but she giggles and backs away, picking up my hat in the process and placing it atop my head. The sun is nearly gone, and so is my self-control.
Which means it probably is a good time to go.
“Come on, you,” she says, “get me back up on my horse.”
Anything to see those pockets again.
I take her hand and lead her toward the horses who’d wandered a few feet away. “I’ll help you if you agree to kiss me like that again once everyone’s gone.”
“I can manage that,” she replies with a wink, and I do what I can to calm down.
Together, we ride back to Horseshoe Holler, using the light from the stables to lead the way back. As my eyes constantly stray to Juliet’s, I find her watching me by the light of the moon, and my heart thumps against my chest.
This is a moment of perfection I want to remember for the rest of my life, and I’m willing to do anything to keep it—even pandering to Mr. Monroe.
Time to put on the show of a lifetime.
Juliet
I’ve been so anxious today, I forgot to eat. I haven’t been doing much eating all week anyway, despite Dad trying to pump me full. My water intake has been just as abysmal.
I figure once the Sleepy Holler event begins I’ll be chill, but as I wait for Dad to arrive, the space already full of residents from Autumn Ridge, my head is still fuzzy, and I’m finding it hard to focus.
Everything has to go perfect tonight. I’m not concerned about Archer pulling off a phenomenal event. But I am worried about my dad nitpicking everything in sight.
I stand near the back of the gathering so I can easily spot his arrival, though I can’t help but take in the sight of the transformed space in front of me first.
Five metal fire pits are spread around the space far enough apart to make ample room for guests. Haybales for sitting surround each fire with plaid blankets draped cozily atop the straw for guests to use at their leisure.
Pumpkins, carved and uncarved, border almost every square foot of the gathering space, while candles line an otherwise darkened pathway leading into a shadowy bed of trees.
Beyond the fires, a small, makeshift stage has been erected with a painted backdrop of a small town bordered by spooky woods. Next to that, a few old-fashioned, wooden booths have been assembled for vendors to sell caramel apples, kettle corn, hot chocolate, apple cider, s’mores kits, and small bags of candy corn and peanuts.
Sadie is propped up in the center of them all with her maple goods booth. She sends a wave in my direction, which I readily return. She looks content, standing next to James and selling her own concoctions.
I’ll get that contentment myself, too. Right?
The smell of all the food should already be making my stomach growl, but when I spot Dad, my appetite vanishes again. He looks around, and I expect him to see me first, but when his eyes settle on the stables, I pause.
His expression shifts from suspicion to joy. I might even go so far as to say excited, which is the last expression I expect. He hasn’t been here since Archer’s updates, and he seems genuinely pleased with...
My thoughts stop as I follow his gaze, and understanding rushes over me. He’s not looking at the stables.
He’s looking at Genevieve Hazelton.
I didn’t see her come in, but she’s standing alone, rubbing the forelock of a brown and white horse as a few others come to greet her. She’s smiling to herself, her mouth moving, as she whispers to the animals.
